PRI 2011: Crower Cams New Low Mass Acceleration Balancing For Cranks

While walking the 2011 PRI show, we happened to stop by our friends at Crower Cams to see what they had new for 2012. Crower showed us a couple of new products, but what caught our attention was their new Low Mass Acceleration Balancing(LMAB) that they offer for crankshafts.

The first thing we thought was how this was just another manufacture reducing the weight on their crankshafts, “Yes physical weight will be reduced but that is not always the most important part of designing a crankshaft for your application,” explained Kerry Novak of Crower. “What Low Mass balancing is all about, is getting the outside diameter of the crankshaft as small as possible. On all balanced Crower cranks we trim the counter weights to match your bob weight so the engine builder does not need to drill several holes in the counter weight to balance.”

Novak went on to explain the added benefits of the new LMAB, “The cranks on display are both balanced to the same bob weight and are within 2 pounds of each other but when you look at them they are completely different. We added 3 one inch dia pieces of heavy metal to both ends of the crank and trimmed over another .350 thousands off the OD. Less weight to accelerate, less mass in the oil and less bearing load on the main bearings. It makes the crank stronger and really, in every application makes more power.”

Crower offers way more than just crankshafts

This is nothing new for Crower Cams, “We did it over 25 years ago when we made all the fuel cranks for Big Daddy Don Garlets. Its main use now is to gain acceleration on a limited HP or oval track application,” Novak told us. “That where every bit of swinging mass matters. It’s all about accelerating off the line or off a corner, that’s where most races are won or lost.”

The new Low Mass Acceleration Balancing can performed to any crankshaft Crower produces. The cost is around $400 extra.

Low Mass Acceleration Balancing highlights and benefits: